SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “drawings”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 289 records · Page 16

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1994

Design and technical support for development of a molded fabric space suit joint

NASA Ames Research Center has under design a new joint or element for use in a space suit. The design concept involves molding a fabric to a geometry developed at Ames. Unusual characteristics of this design include the need to produce a fabric molding draw ratio on the order of thirty percent circumferentially on the surface. Previous work done at NASA on molded fabric joints has shown that standard, NASA qualified polyester fabrics as are currently available in the textile industry for use in suits have a maximum of about fifteen percent draw ratio. NASA has done the fundamental design for a prototype joint and of a mold which would impart the correct shape to the fabric support layer of the joint. NASA also has the capability to test a finished product for suitability and reliability. Responsibilities resting with Georgia Tech in the design effort for this project are textile related, namely fiber selection, fabric design to achieve the properties of the objective design, and determining production means and sources for the fabrics. The project goals are to produce a prototype joint using the NASA design for evaluation of effectiveness by NASA, and to establish the sources and specifications which would allow reliable and repeatable production of the joint.

Olson, L. Howard↗

NASA NTRS1994

HiRel: Hybrid Automated Reliability Predictor (HARP) integrated reliability tool system, (version 7.0). Volume 3: HARP Graphics Oriented (GO) input user's guide

The Hybrid Automated Reliability Predictor (HARP) integrated Reliability (HiRel) tool system for reliability/availability prediction offers a toolbox of integrated reliability/availability programs that can be used to customize the user's application in a workstation or nonworkstation environment. HiRel consists of interactive graphical input/output programs and four reliability/availability modeling engines that provide analytical and simulative solutions to a wide host of highly reliable fault-tolerant system architectures and is also applicable to electronic systems in general. The tool system was designed at the outset to be compatible with most computing platforms and operating systems, and some programs have been beta tested within the aerospace community for over 8 years. This document is a user's guide for the HiRel graphical preprocessor Graphics Oriented (GO) program. GO is a graphical user interface for the HARP engine that enables the drawing of reliability/availability models on a monitor. A mouse is used to select fault tree gates or Markov graphical symbols from a menu for drawing.

Bavuso, Salvatore J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Mir hardware heritage

The heritage of the major Mir complex hardware elements is described. These elements include Soyuz-TM and Progress-M; the Kvant, Kvant 2, and Kristall modules; and the Mir base block. Configuration changes and major mission events of the Salyut 6, Salyut 7, and Mir multiport space stations are described in detail for the period 1977-1994. A comparative chronology of U.S. and Soviet/Russian manned spaceflight is also given for that period. The 68 illustrations include comparative scale drawings of U.S. and Russian spacecraft as well as sequential drawings depicting missions and mission events.

Mir Space Station↗

NASA NTRS1995

ZBLAN Microgravity Study

One of the greatest obstacles with the fluorozirconate ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AIF3-NaF) is the problem of devitrification. Fluoride glasses have a narrow working range and the viscosity is a strong function of temperature. Rates of nucleation and growth of crystals in the glass depend on the viscosity, making these glasses unstable and prone to crystallization. The viscosity of ZBLAN at the drawing temperature is low, usually between two to five poise, so it is difficult to obtain fibers from their preform melts without crystallization. The preforms usually contain heterogeneous nuclei which grow into microcrystallites above the glass transition temperature, T(g). Since microcrystallites in an optical fiber cause extrinsic light scattering losses of the optical signal, fiber drawing must be completed in a short time to minimize the generation of light scattering centers. To keep these losses to a minimum and to fabricate low scattering loss fibers and other optical components, this research deals with the possibility of minimizing crystallite formation by removing the gravitational influence of solutal segregation of the ZBLAN elements. This report reviews the early work on the KC-135 aircraft, the development of the ZBLAN Rocket Experiment, preparations at the White Sands Missile Range, analysis of the flight and ground test results, lessons learned and future experimentation.

Workman, Gary L.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Management of Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technologies for Spacecraft Formations Under the NASA Cross Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP)

Breakthrough technology development is critical to securing the future of our space industry. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP) is developing critical space technologies that enable innovative and less costly missions, and spawn new mission opportunities through revolutionary, long-term, high-risk, high-payoff technology advances. The CETDP is a NASA-wide activity managed by the Advanced Technology and Mission Studies Division (AT&MS) at Headquarters Office of Space Science. Program management for CETDP is distributed across the multiple NASA Centers and draws on expertise throughout the Agency. The technology research activities are organized along Project-level divisions called thrust areas that are directly linked to the Agency's goals and objectives of the Enterprises: Earth Science, Space Science, Human Exploration and Development of Space; and the Office of the Chief Technologist's (OCT) strategic technology areas. Cross-Enterprise technology is defined as long-range strategic technologies that have broad potential to span the needs of more than one Enterprise. Technology needs are identified and prioritized by each of the primary customers. The thrust area manager (TAM) for each division is responsible for the ultimate success of technologies within their area, and can draw from industry, academia, other government agencies, other CETDP thrust areas, and other NASA Centers to accomplish the goals of the thrust area. An overview of the CETDP and description of the future directions of the thrust area called Distributed Spacecraft are presented in this paper. Revolutionary technologies developed within this thrust area will enable the implementation of a spatially distributed network of individual vehicles, or assets, collaborating as a single collective unit, and exhibiting a common system-wide capability to accomplish a shared objective. With such a capability, new Earth and space science measurement concepts become a reality.

Hartman, Kathy↗

NASA NTRS1999

Management of Guidance, Navigation and Control Technologies for Spacecraft Formations under the NASA Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP)

Hartman, Kathy↗

NASA NTRS1998

Presenting the Shuttle Main Engine Software

Originally, this project was to produce an animated Powerpoint presentation of the 'Shuttle Engine and its Software' and to produce a web page with animation including the same materials but with greater detail in the description of the software. The principal emphasis was to be on the web page. Midway through the first year of the project, we were advised by the technical coordinator of this work at MSFC to concentrate on the web page alone. Also, the project was expanded to include a web presentation of the MRECS (Modular Rocket Control System). For the SSME project, the web page presentation has been completed. The integration of the animation into the web page is complete although we have been asked to speed up the animation. Also, the addition of greater detail to the description of the SSME controller software has been added. Much of the work on this program was done by students as their task for their senior project course, the capstone course of their program of study. The students gained a great deal from this project. They have learned to use VISIO, POWERPOINT, PHOTOSHOP, and several web page software packages. The starting point for this project was a PowerPoint presentation by the PI while on a Summer Faculty Fellowship at MSFC. For this project, about half of the drawings of the SSME were improved and about half were completely redrawn. The original still drawings have been animated to illustrate the fuel flow through the SSME system.

Schreur, Barbara↗

NASA NTRS1999

A Methodology for Investigating Adaptive Postural Control

Our research on postural control and human-environment interactions provides an appropriate scientific foundation for understanding the skill of mass handling by astronauts in weightless conditions (e.g., extravehicular activity or EVA). We conducted an investigation of such skills in NASA's principal mass-handling simulator, the Precision Air-Bearing Floor, at the Johnson Space Center. We have studied skilled movement-body within a multidisciplinary context that draws on concepts and methods from biological and behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology, kinesiology and neurophysiology) as well as bioengineering. Our multidisciplinary research has led to the development of measures, for manual interactions between individuals and the substantial environment, that plausibly are observable by human sensory systems. We consider these methods to be the most important general contribution of our EVA investigation. We describe our perspective as control theoretic because it draws more on fundamental concepts about control systems in engineering than it does on working constructs from the subdisciplines of biomechanics and motor control in the bio-behavioral sciences. At the same time, we have attempted to identify the theoretical underpinnings of control-systems engineering that are most relevant to control by human beings. We believe that these underpinnings are implicit in the assumptions that cut across diverse methods in control-systems engineering, especially the various methods associated with "nonlinear control", "fuzzy control," and "adaptive control" in engineering. Our methods are based on these theoretical foundations rather than on the mathematical formalisms that are associated with particular methods in control-systems engineering. The most important aspects of the human-environment interaction in our investigation of mass handling are the functional consequences that body configuration and stability have for the pick up of information or the achievement of overt goals. It follows that an essential characteristic of postural behavior is the effective maintenance of the orientation and stability of the sensory and motor "platforms" (e.g., head or shoulders) over variations in the human, the environment and the task. This general skill suggests that individuals should be sensitive to the functional consequences of body configuration and stability. In other words, individuals should perceive the relation between configuration, stability, and performance so that they can adaptively control their interaction with the surroundings. Human-environment interactions constitute robust systems in that individuals can maintain the stability of such interactions over uncertainty about and variations in the dynamics of the interaction. Robust interactions allow individuals to adopt orientations and configurations that are not optimal with respect to purely energetic criteria. Individuals can tolerate variation in postural states, and such variation can serve an important function in adaptive systems. Postural variability generates stimulation which is "textured" by the dynamics of the human-environment system. The texture or structure in stimulation provides information about variation in dynamics, and such information can be sufficient to guide adaption in control strategies. Our method were designed to measure informative patterns of movement variability.

McDonald, P. V.↗

NASA NTRS2000

The Transition from Spacecraft Development Ot Flight Operation: Human Factor Considerations

In the field of aeronautics and astronautics, a paradigm shift has been witnessed by those in academia, research and development, and private industry. Long development life cycles and the budgets to support such programs and projects has given way to aggressive task schedules and leaner resources to draw from all the while challenging assigned individuals to create and produce improved products of processes. however, this "faster, better, cheaper" concept cannot merely be applied to the design, development, and test of complex systems such as earth-orbiting of interplanetary robotic spacecraft. Full advantage is not possible without due consideration and application to mission operations planning and flight operations, Equally as important as the flight system, the mission operations system consisting of qualified personnel, ground hardware and software tools, and verified and validated operational processes, should also be regarded as a complex system requiring personnel to draw upon formal education, training, related experiences, and heuristic reasoning in engineering an effective and efficient system. Unquestionably, qualified personnel are the most important elements of a mission operations system. This paper examines the experiences of the Deep Space I Project, the first in a series of new technology in-flight validation missions sponsored by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), specifically, in developing a subsystems analysis and technology validation team comprised of former spacecraft development personnel. Human factor considerations are investigated from initial concept/vision formulation; through operational process development; personnel test and training; to initial uplink product development and test support. Emphasis has been placed on challenges and applied or recommended solutions, so as to provide opportunities for future programs and projects to address and disposition potential issues and concerns as early as possible to reap the benefits associated with learning from other's past experiences.

Basilio, Ralph R.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Airborne Laser Altimetry Mapping of the Greenland Ice Sheet: Application to Mass Balance Assessment

In 1998 and '99, the Arctic Ice Mapping (AIM) program completed resurveys of lines occupied 5 years earlier revealing elevation changes of the Greenland ice sheet and identifying areas of significant thinning, thickening and balance. In planning these surveys, consideration had to be given to the spatial constraints associated with aircraft operation, the spatial nature of ice sheet behavior, and limited resources, as well as temporal issues, such as seasonal and interannual variability in the context of measurement accuracy. This paper examines the extent to which the sampling and survey strategy is valid for drawing conclusions on the current state of balance of the Greenland ice sheet. The surveys covered the entire ice sheet with an average distance of 21.4 km between each location on the ice sheet and the nearest flight line. For most of the ice sheet, the elevation changes show relatively little spatial variability, and their magnitudes are significantly smaller than the observed elevation change signal. As a result, we conclude that the density of the sampling and the accuracy of the measurements are sufficient to draw meaningful conclusions on the state of balance of the entire ice sheet over the five-year survey period. Outlet glaciers, however, show far more spatial and temporal variability, and each of the major ones is likely to require individual surveys in order to determine its balance.

Abdalati, W.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Space Shuttle Main Engine Joint Data List Applying Today's Desktop Technologies to Facilitate Engine Processing

Boeing-Rocketdyne's Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) is the world's first large reusable liquid rocket engine. The space shuttle propulsion system has three SSMEs, each weighing 7,400 lbs and providing 470,000 lbs of thrust at 100% rated power level. To ensure required safety and reliability levels are achieved with the reusable engines, each SSME is partially disassembled, inspected, reassembled, and retested at Kennedy Space Center between each flight. Maintenance processing must be performed very carefully to replace any suspect components, maintain proper engine configuration, and avoid introduction of contaminants that could affect performance and safety. The long service life, and number, complexity, and pedigree of SSME components makes logistics functions extremely critical. One SSME logistics challenge is documenting the assembly and disassembly of the complex joint configurations. This data (joint nomenclature, seal and fastener identification and orientation, assembly sequence, fastener torques, etc.) must be available to technicians and engineers during processing. Various assembly drawings and procedures contain this information, but in this format the required (practical) joint data can be hard to find, due to the continued use of archaic engineering drawings and microfilm for field site use. Additionally, the release system must traverse 2,500 miles between design center and field site, across three time zones, which adds communication challenges and time lags for critical engine configuration data. To aid in information accessibility, a Joint Data List (JDL) was developed that allows efficient access to practical joint data. The published JDL has been a very useful logistics product, providing illustrations and information on the latest SSME configuration. The JDL identifies over 3,350 unique parts across seven fluid systems, over 300 joints, times two distinct engine configurations. The JDL system was recently converted to a web-based, navigable electronic manual that contains all the required data and illustrations in expanded view format using standard PC products (Word, Excel, PDF, Photoshop). The logistics of accurately releasing this information to field personnel was greatly enhanced via the utilization of common office products to produce a more user-friendly format than was originally developed under contract to NASA. This was done without reinventing the system, which would be cost prohibitive on a program of this maturity. The brunt of the joint part tracking is done within the logistics organization and disseminated to all field sites, without duplicating effort at each site. The JDL is easily accessible across the country via the NASA intranet directly at the SSME workstand. The advent of this logistics data product has greatly enhanced the reliability of tracking dynamic changes to the SSME and greatly reduces engineering change turnaround time and potential for errors. Since the inception of the JDL system in 1997, no discrepant parts have propagated to engine assembly operations. This presentation focuses on the challenges overcome and the techniques used to apply today's desktop technologies to an existing logistics data source.

Jacobs, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS2001

A Highly Miniaturized Inertial Grade Gyroscope for Space Applications

The evolution of inertial grade gyroscopes for space applications represents well over 50 years of technology development and an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. The workhorse product which represents the current state-of-the art for commercially available high performance devices is the Litton-Hemishperical Resonator Gyro (HRG) Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). This product has a performance figure of merit of 0.003 deg/hr bias drift, a volume of 567 cubic inches, weighs 19 pounds, draws about 30 watts and costs over $1 million each. Clearly devices of this magnitude are not conducive to the minimized mass, volume, power, and cost constraints of outer planet missions. An approach to breaking these potential barriers is the use of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) based inertial devices. Although substantially reduced in size, mass power and cost, this approach has produced devices in the tactical performance range of greater than 1 deg/hour bias drift. This level of performance satisfies the preponderance of high market volume requirements such as automotive and tactical munitions but does not meet the limited market quantity requirements for the high precision space based market. Because of the very limited size of the space based market, there is little economic incentive for commercial fabricators of tactical grade devices to address the necessary performance improvements. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in conjunction with Boeing Space Systems (BSS) is addressing this void to satisfy our mutual requirements in this area. The project objective to is to achieve 0.01 deg/hr performance in an IMU which is less than 10 cubic inches in volume, weighs less than 0.5 pounds, draws less than 1 watt and is available in volume production for less than $2500. Reductions of this magnitude will be mission enabling capabilities for a variety of anticipated outer planet mission attributes such as autonomous control and docking, formation flying and robotic outposts. The improved performance will be realized using improved relative precision fabrication, enhanced vibratory drive and sense designs, and statistical data analysis.

Wiberg, D. V.↗

NASA NTRS2001

First Experimental Demonstration of Full-Duplex Optical Communication on a Single Beam

The satellite industry is driven by the need to reduce costs. One way they have sought to do this is by reducing the size and weight of the satellite because of the extremely high cost per kilogram incurred launching a payload into orbit. The main difficulty in this approach is the lack of power capacity in a small satellite. One of the largest loads on a satellite's power system is the communications system. This has driven the need for a low-power communications system. This document examines a novel method of communicating optically with a low-Earth-orbit satellite from the ground without the need for a laser on the payload. The goal is to show the feasibility of such a system as a solution to the small satellite low-powered communication problem. Specially, that the system described herein: is capable of ground to low-Earth-orbit communications, has very little space-borne mass, and draws little power from the satellite. First, the system (hereafter referred to as LOWCAL "Lightweight Optical Wavelength Communication without A Laser in space") will be explained with details of the formats used and the link budgets. Discussions will be presented on the development of some of the system hardware (the laser diode driver, liquid crystal driver, and decision electronics for both the up and down links.) Finally, experimental test results of the entire system operating in a laboratory environment are presented and compared to theory. The results of the laboratory experiment support the original thesis: retro-modulated optical communications can meet the needs of the small satellite community. The system is capable of 10-kbps communication, has low space-borne mass, and draws little power from the satellite (less than 100-mW measured for the laboratory experiment, less than 1.5-W calculated for the Shuttle experiment).

Garrett, Christopher David↗

NASA NTRS1999

Situation Awareness and Workload Measures for SAFOR

The present research was conducted in support of the NASA Safe All-Weather Flight Operations for Rotorcraft (SAFOR) program. The purpose of the work was to investigate the utility of two measurement tools developed by the British Defense Evaluation Research Agency. These tools were a subjective workload assessment scale, the DRA Workload Scale (DRAWS), and a situation awareness measurement tool in which the crews self-evaluation of performance is compared against actual performance. These two measurement tools were evaluated in the context of a test of an innovative approach to alerting the crew by way of a helmet mounted display. The DRAWS was found to be usable, but it offered no advantages over extant scales, and it had only limited resolution. The performance self-evaluation metric of situation awareness was found to be highly effective.

DeMaio, Joe↗

NASA NTRS2002

An Automated Optical Fiber Puller for Use in Low-Earth Orbit

With the slowdown in space station construction, limiting astronaut time for scientific experiments, an effort is being made to automate certain experiments. One such experiment is production of heavy metal fluoride fibers in the microgravity environment. Previous work by this author and others have shown that microgravity inhibits crystallization of ZBLAN glass. Thus an automated experiment has been designed. This experiment will consist of several elements, one which includes the use of an autonomous robot to initiate fiber pulling. The first element will be to melt the preform to eliminate crystals. The preform tip will then be heated to the viscosity necessary for fiber drawing. The robot will initiate the draw and attach the fiber end to the take-up reel. Once fiber pulling has commenced, sensors will be used to detect a fiber break, whereupon the robot can re-initiate the pulling process. The fiber will be coated with a polymer and the polymer cured with ultraviolet light. A laser micrometer will be used to monitor fiber diameter. The experiment is designed so that up to 10 preforms can be pulled into fiber during one flight. The apparatus will be mounted on a free-flying carrier which will be placed into low-earth orbit from the cargo bay of the space shuttle by the shuttle robot arm. The experiment can be started by a signal from the shuttle or from the ground via telescience. The experiment will proceed automatically using specially designed algorithms and will be monitored from the ground. The carrier will be picked up by the shuttle before return to earth.

Tucker, Dennis S.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Our Space Future: A Challenge to the Conceptual Artist Concept Art for Presentation and Education

The history of visual representation is as old as the history of humankind. The Paleolithic drawings that are found in caves present our collective need for recording our dependence on the life-sustaining animal populations. Our wishes for their fertility (and for our own) comprise much of the art we find in these prehistoric drawings. As well, the cycles of the Moon are recorded in Paleolithic art relating to women's estrus cycles that link the perpetuation of our species with the cosmos. Art became our initial way of description and a way of envisioning our future goals. At the time when pictograms began to form humanity s first written languages, we also started to use art to invoke favorable forces and ward off devastation. Another important application of visual art became the conceptualization of tools, buildings and ideas that were impossible to describe by other means. Humans have a historical tradition of considering visual images as vehicles to inspire us to pursue a different way of thinking through our ability of envisioning. Complex concepts can be described visually and have the ability to convey information on many different levels. Conceptual art is a tool that can describe wide-ranging ideas from religious insights to currently unfeasible engineering projects and visionary dreams for humankind.

Bangs, Mary C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Using Fuzzy Clustering for Real-time Space Flight Safety

To ensure space flight safety, it is necessary to monitor myriad sensor readings on the ground and in flight. Since a space shuttle has many sensors, monitoring data and drawing conclusions from information contained within the data in real time is challenging. The nature of the information can be critical to the success of the mission and safety of the crew and therefore, must be processed with minimal data-processing time. Data analysis algorithms could be used to synthesize sensor readings and compare data associated with normal operation with the data obtained that contain fault patterns to draw conclusions. Detecting abnormal operation during early stages in the transition from safe to unsafe operation requires a large amount of historical data that can be categorized into different classes (non-risk, risk). Even though the 40 years of shuttle flight program has accumulated volumes of historical data, these data don t comprehensively represent all possible fault patterns since fault patterns are usually unknown before the fault occurs. This paper presents a method that uses a similarity measure between fuzzy clusters to detect possible faults in real time. A clustering technique based on a fuzzy equivalence relation is used to characterize temporal data. Data collected during an initial time period are separated into clusters. These clusters are characterized by their centroids. Clusters formed during subsequent time periods are either merged with an existing cluster or added to the cluster list. The resulting list of cluster centroids, called a cluster group, characterizes the behavior of a particular set of temporal data. The degree to which new clusters formed in a subsequent time period are similar to the cluster group is characterized by a similarity measure, q. This method is applied to downlink data from Columbia flights. The results show that this technique can detect an unexpected fault that has not been present in the training data set.

Lee, Charles↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Survey of Collectives

Due to the increasing sophistication and miniaturization of computational components, complex, distributed systems of interacting agents are becoming ubiquitous. Such systems, where each agent aims to optimize its own performance, but where there is a well-defined set of system-level performance criteria, are called collectives. The fundamental problem in analyzing/designing such systems is in determining how the combined actions of self-interested agents leads to 'coordinated' behavior on a iarge scale. Examples of artificial systems which exhibit such behavior include packet routing across a data network, control of an array of communication satellites, coordination of multiple deployables, and dynamic job scheduling across a distributed computer grid. Examples of natural systems include ecosystems, economies, and the organelles within a living cell. No current scientific discipline provides a thorough understanding of the relation between the structure of collectives and how well they meet their overall performance criteria. Although still very young, research on collectives has resulted in successes both in understanding and designing such systems. It is eqected that as it matures and draws upon other disciplines related to collectives, this field will greatly expand the range of computationally addressable tasks. Moreover, in addition to drawing on them, such a fully developed field of collective intelligence may provide insight into already established scientific fields, such as mechanism design, economics, game theory, and population biology. This chapter provides a survey to the emerging science of collectives.

Tumer, Kagan↗